Trouble with Math in a One-Room Country School Historical Context

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Jane Kenyon was an elementary school student in the mid-1950s. InUnited States educational history, these years were characterized by "Cold War" anxiety. "Cold War" is the term used to describe the antagonistic relations between the Soviet Union and theUnited States after World War II, when political and economic struggles mounted between capitalist, democratic nations and those under communist control. While both sides built up massive military power, there was no actual military combat, hence the term "cold." In 1957, theSoviet Union launched the world's first manmade satellite, Sputnik I. TheU.S. responded to this event with some alarm, and intensified the emphasis on math and science in schools in order to give the country a competitive edge in this new dimension of the Cold War, the space race. Both rural and urban schools nationwide responded as they could to this new national "crisis." Those having "trouble...